Hmm I'm not sure what to vote. I believe in God but I believe "he" is just all the laws of nature, and I believe there is a plan for how everything in the universe will be, but I don't think praying or going to the church solves your problems. He doesn't listen to prayers since everything is planned, all our acts and our ways of thinking, and that is because all the atoms are affected by the laws of nature (God in my beliefs). However I find it very satisfying visiting the church I also thank God when something good happens

I suppose deist is what describes me best. I don't really have the knowledge in English to describe this perfectly but I hope you guys understand what I mean

On my idea of religion/spirituality, god is the "sum" of everyone experiences. It doesn't have physically created the universe, as it is not us who have created it, but, as the universe can't havn't existed if we ask the question "why does the universe exist ?", we are a justification of the existence of the universe.

I chose "Atheist with no supernatural beliefs" - I am open-minded about supernatural occurrences, but my initial line of enquiry regarding anything of that sort is from a position of scepticism, and I'll usually be satisfied that a psychological explanation fits the evidence (at least where only one person - such as myself - witnesses these phenomena...).

So while I don't completely discount the possibility of some as-yet-undiscovered natural phenomenon behind common supernatural events, I don't approach them from a position of "I know they're definitely magic and stuff".

I expected a majority of atheists on this forum, but it's interesting to see what you guys think

I heard of many things related with religion in my life, for example some miracles of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (i had a research about him), some experiences of my parents, or the stories of my uncles that visited Medjugorje, all these things makes me believe that there is something more, but still, I'm not a religious person, since I don't go to the church very often (usually just on Christmas and Easter )

My idea, however, is that there is something that makes us actually "live", that maybe is not just our brains, but the thing of existing on this universe, right now, and that if it doesn't exist, well, our live wouldn't have sense anymore, the entire universe wouldn't have sense, it would be just a random set of quarks and leptons (or strings, I don't know) bound together...

Maybe I'm just convincing myself, I don't know, what I know is that I prefer to think like this

The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.

I'm tempted to check "I'm an atheis with supernatural beliefs", but, in my opinion, supernatural is not the best word to describe such phenomenon. I'm quite familiar with out of body experiences, and I think science should investigate more on such subjects, as psychological models can't explain all.

If one day, we found a model for explaining these (and we're far from this day), this will become a natural phenomenon.

I have seen things people would call ghosts and shadow people but I just assume they're caused by brain farts. Education, the internet, and the absurd assumptions made by most religions has pretty well convinced me there isn't a god. If by some slim chance there were a god, I doubt he/she/it would care at all about humans given the vast scale of the universe.

I suspect that religion is more about identity and culture than what people actually believe. So it's hard to know what a vote here actually is an answer for, if it matters. Is it the group you feel most comfortable being identified with? What best describes how you lead your life? Or your opinion on metaphysical questions?

There could be disagreement depending on how the question is interpreted. For instance, the religion of your ethnic or cultural group will most likely highly influence your identity, even if your beliefs are unclear. You could observe religious traditions to the letter, and be ready to defend your culture with your life, but whether that makes you religious can be debated. And everybody will for the most part live and act supposing that the universe has order and follow some laws. Deists and scientists must suppose that. But still you could believe that this order is an illusion, only a trick of the mind and a consequence of how the mind works and percept while the universe at some scale or level actually is fundamentally chaotic which the mind simply cannot see.

Agnosticism refers to a position on what a person claims to know, not what they believe. On the question of gods, you either believe that a god exists, or you do not. That is a separate question from whether you claim to know that one exists. It is possible to be agnostic while being either an atheist or a theist, so that in itself is not very descriptive of a person's beliefs, and regardless there simply wouldn't be enough poll options to include that.

It's also important to point out that not believing in a god does not mean that you believe that there is no god, much the same as a jury declaring someone not guilty of a crime does not mean they necessarily think he was innocent. So if you do not have a positive belief that a god does exist, then you are an atheist.

Of course, but for now such things should be regarded as supernatural, and only be considered natural when they can be readily explained and demonstrated in terms of natural processes.

I have myself a lot of question about how the soul can be considered on a scientific point of view ? Does quantum physics are sufficient to explain the fact that somebody can be in two places at one time ? Scientists know that since the big bang, all particles are entangled. Can it explain "supernatural" processes, or does a more fundamental theory is needed ?

The only things I know are we should be close to make an empiric theory of this, but we are far from making a fundamental theory.

QuoteDoctorOfSpace ()

Education, the internet, and the absurd assumptions made by most religions has pretty well convinced me there isn't a god.

That was the first thing I think, and that's why I don't practice a religion. And this is related to the main difference between religion and spirituality. Religion is (generally) a set of facts, law, you should believe in, you should apply. But I think following these without thinking about its causes is kindly stupid. Spirituality is set of taughts that helps you seeng the world, and the more important is having a proper opinion about god, the universe.

I'm doing classes to children about astronomy and the universe, and as most of them are religious (muslims), I was usually trying to avoid the discussion about the birth of the universe. But one day, this debate cames by itself, and I was surprised to see that they are very open-minded about the question of science and religion. Most of them are using religion just to try to understand facts, and not just to believe in.